Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies - Research UNE

Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies

Introduction

In this chapter case studies of eight of the participating children identified

with high academic potential are presented in order to investigate Research

Question 4, What factors influence the school environment and academic

performance of the participating children with high academic potential? The

case studies are based primarily on semi-structured interviews (see Appendix5.5) with the child, his/her parent(s) and teacher. The interview data aresupported with quantitative academic performance data and the dynamictesting outcomes. Triangulation between the various data sources has been

used to help reveal and support findings about the school performance of thechildren.

The interview questions were developed focusing within two generalthemes, school and Aboriginality and racism, with the main focus on school.The interview questions are based largely on the findings of Day (1992) andRussel (1997) who reported studies that have identified factors associated withsuccessful schooling outcomes for Aboriginal children. Although these

studies were not specifically associated with gifted Aboriginal students theydid provide a starting point for the interview questions. However, in the

absence of research related to the academic performance of academically giftedAboriginal children it was expected that new themes would emerge from thepresent case studies.

The eight children participating in the case studies were selected on the basisof their high level of performance in the dynamic testing. The group waschosen to reflect a range of dynamic test performances including high gainsfrom pretest to posttest on the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices(RSPM).

Themes that became evident during the coding of the interview data intoNUD • IST were used to develop a framework for all eight case studies. Grouppatterns in school performance, attitudes and behaviour are presented.Finally, sources of dissonance between parents and teachers revealed by thetriangulation of data are presented.

Individual Cases

Eight of the 79 study participants were chosen to be the subject of individualcase studies. Case studies are presented for several reasons:

• The quantitative data presented in Chapter 6 focuses largely on the TotalGroup. While this approach was pivotal in determining the overall groupimpact of dynamic testing on identifying high academic potential, it is theresponse of individuals that holds most interest. Essentially identification

of giftedness is an individual process and it must be explored on this

level.

• One of the fundamental assumptions in this research is that manyAboriginal children are 'invisible' underachievers. The case studies

isolate some of the factors associated with academic underachievementamongst the children in this study and clarify the context surroundingperformance in the cognitive variable as determined by the Raven'sStandard Progressive Matrices (RSPM).

All case study participants scored at the 80th percentile band or higher (three< 85%, five > 85%) in one of the three applications of the RSPM and wereselected for the following reasons:

• The largest group ('Jill', 'Adam', 'Sam' and 'Claire') produced high gainson the RSPM from pretest to posttest.

• 'Ian' scored highly in the RSPM pretest and improved at posttest.

• 'Linda', 'Nola' and 'Kate' made strong initial gains from pretest toposttest on the RSPM and made further gains from posttest to far posttest.

The case studies will be presented in the following order: 'Adam','Sam', 'Claire', 'Ian', 'Linda', 'Nola' and 'Kate'.

The qualitative data collected for each case consist of semi-structuredinterviews conducted with the child, parent(s) and teacher approximately one

month after the collection of the quantitative data. All interviews (child,

parent and teacher) for a given case were conducted on the same day. Thequestions used in these interviews (see Appendix 5.5) focused on the child'sschool experiences and performance, Aboriginality, and academic and

Chapter 7: Results II — Case Studies Page 177

employment expectations for the future. As discussed in the Method chapter,the interviews were investigated using NUD • IST. The themes that emergedduring the coding of the raw interview data into NUD • IST form thesubsections of the individual case reports. The qualitative data weresupplemented by individual quantitative data from the dynamic testing and

the New South Wales Basic Skills Tests in numeracy and literacy (undertakenin Years 3 and 5).

Further insights into the performance of each participating child were gainedby examining the field notes taken at the time of the quantitative datacollection (see Appendix 6.1). In order to preserve the anonymity of the

participants, names bear no resemblance to those of the real people. Theindividual cases are presented below.

Case s07, 'Jill'

A Snapshot of Jill

Case s07 is referred to as 'Jill', her mother as Parent J and her teacher asTeacher J. At the time of pretesting Jill was 9 years 11 months old and was aparticipant in the Intervention Group. Jill was an outgoing, happy, eager-to-

please child. Impulsivity was evident in her behaviour in both the data

collection and social environments. Field notes (Appendix 6.1) revealed Jill as

"a very talkative child who rushed everything. She gave up quickly in theearly stages." This impulsivity was noted and addressed in the intervention,with positive results: "Jill worked noticeably more slowly and seemed topersevere longer at questions in the posttest." After a six--week break (from

posttest to far posttest) it was noted: "Unfortunately Jill seemed back to herold habit of rushing her questions."

Parent J describes Jill as a happy child who loves sport: "She is a child thatloves to dance and sing and be happy and she is interested in sports,swimming mainly." Jill also has a side to her character that indicatesindependence: "She will come out with it. Like she won't keep it to herself,she will speak up on those things if something is giving her a problem."


Teacher J recognises Jill as a child who is striving to succeed: "She would liketo succeed in everything she does and she really does try hard. So that is adefinite strength."

Jill's perceptions of school were investigated by asking her to recountexperiences related to various aspects of school life. These data weresupplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent J andTeacher J. Perceptions of Jill's school experience are presented in the

following section.

School

School Experience and Teachers

Jill's first experiences of school were good. Both mother and childremembered the first year of school in a positive light. Jill felt that school was

"A lot of fun .... and all the games we played" while Parent J noted that "Sheloved it. She did enjoy it." Regarding school now Jill stated: "It is pretty hardbut I can do the work. I don't get really good marks but I am proud of thethings that I do in class and all the stuff I learn." Both Jill and Parent J say thatgood relations exist with her teachers. Parent J notes: "Yes she always has [had

good relations]. She has never come home and complained about her

teachers." Jill, however, notes that she has never had a teacher who treatedher as special, although a mutual liking exists between Jill and Teacher J.

Performance and Teacher Expectations

Jill's performance in class has been rated as "Just below average, just" byTeacher J. Jill is considered to be a student with good perseverance andworking to her potential "when she is at school ... yes, Jill tries hard. She putsin a lot of effort." Parent J considers that Jill works to her potential and is abright student. When asked if Jill was bright or clever she stated: "Oh yes ... Ithink she is capable of doing the work" and "A kid her age you wouldn't

think would know or understand things." Jill gave one indication only of her

self-perception with regards to her academic ability when she was asked if her

parents thought she was bright or clever and she responded "Yes, sort of ...."


Further indications of Jill's academic performance and potential are given byher dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Performance

Jill's RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below in

Table 7.1.

Table 7.1: Jill's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)

Test RSPM Raw Score Percentile BandPretest 12 2Posttest 43 80Far Posttest 38 52

Jill recorded a very low RSPM pretest score but improved dramatically in theposttest (following intervention) and moved from the 2nd to the 80thpercentile band. The posttest score, however, was not retained six weeks laterwhen it fell to the 52nd percentile band in the far posttest. These resultssuggest that Jill underachieved markedly in the RSPM pretest. The declinerecorded in the far posttest score may reflect a reversion toward Jill's originalbehaviour and performance patterns, especially impulsivity.

Basic Skills Tests Outcomes

Jill achieved at approximately the 32nd percentile band for numeracy and the60th percentile band for literacy in the Year 5 statewide Basic Skills Tests

(BST). The BST scores are very substantially higher than the RSPM pretest

outcome but are, on average, reasonably similar to Teacher J's assessment ofJill's academic ability. However, the substantially higher than average literacyresult contradicts Teacher J's "Just below average" assessment of Jill's

academic abilities. The RSPM posttest score (80th percentile band) suggeststhat the RSPM pretest outcome (second percentile band) is a poor reflection ofJill's cognitive potential. Further, Jill's classroom performance, as assessed byTeacher J, and her BST performance represent a substantialunderachievement when compared with her cognitive potential as measuredby the dynamic testing.


Homework is an important part of most school programmes and directlyaffects academic performance. Jill's homework experience is presented below.

Homework

Homework is given regularly at Jill's school. While Jill claims to do thehomework, mainly at the Homework Centre for Aboriginal students, it doesnot seem to be submitted very often. Jill commented: "Yes, I do a lot ofhomework but it always stays in my bag but it doesn't come out. Like

sometimes I leave it at home so I know I can pick it up and study but then I

leave it there" and "Because I leave it at the Homework Centre so I can pick it

up the next day but when I go there the next day the Homework Centre islocked." An insight into Jill's reluctance to submit homework may becontained in the following comment by Jill: " ... like I forget I know that Ihave done it but I don't know if I have got the answers that I have done

right." Parent J recognises the importance of homework and is aware thatJill's homework is sometimes not handed in to the teacher for assessment.However, Parent J does not appear to be aware of the extent to which the

homework is not being handed in. Teacher J shares the class with anotherteacher and was unaware of all of Jill's homework completions: "Again Idon't have her for the classes that give homework, English and Maths, butshe is away a lot on Fridays so I would have to say probably more often thannot she probably doesn't [hand in her homework]." Jill is an only child and as

such has a room of her own. This, along with the Homework Centre, should

provide a good physical environment for doing homework.

Expectations for the Future

Parent J is very aware of the problems that Jill is likely to encounter as shegrows up and advises her accordingly. Issues such as drugs and alcoholfeature strongly in her concerns. Parent J expects and encourages Jill to tryhard to perform well in school and indicates that she expects both herself andJill to make sacrifices to ensure academic success, which means completinghigh school and going to university. Parent J considers that Jill has the samechance as anyone else of doing well at school: "Yes, I believe that."

Teacher J expressed the belief that Jill will complete the Higher SchoolCertificate but that she "would probably just scrape through." Teacher J also


expressed some doubt by adding: "Yes, I suppose I am hoping. I do" and "If

she keeps attending school she will be fine."

Jill is already setting life goals: "I look up to Christine Arnu the singer because

I did want to be a singer and wanted to be like her. Now I want to be alawyer." Parent J recognises that Jill has goals: "She is only ten years old ... yet... to be fairly clear about the direction her future lies. She often talks aboutwhat she wants to be. She has changed her mind a couple of times over theyears but it has been a thing with her." Jill supported her mother's views inthis matter when she commented: "I want to go to Uni and then I want to

study law and when I get out of Uni I want to be a lawyer."

Attendance

Jill had been missing a lot of school. Teacher J stated: "I have noticed that a

couple of days each week" [she is absent]. Jill's absences from school werenoted at different times by her teacher throughout the interview. Neither Jillnor Parent J commented on her regular absences.

Extra Help

Jill is perceived by Teacher J as being capable enough to catch up by herselfknowledge gaps created by school absences. This perception seems to be in

contradiction to Teacher J's opinion that Jill is "Just below average."Moreover, Teacher J notes that Jill will need extra help to progresssuccessfully to high school and higher education. One outcome of Jill's

perceived ability to catch up on missing work is that she does not receive

extra help from the school's Aboriginal Education Assistants.

Aboriginal Education Assistants (AEAs)

Jill considers the school's AEAs to be a good thing for the Aboriginal studentsas they help with things such as homework, missing lunches and

miscellaneous tasks. Jill feels it is good to have Aboriginal adults in theschool "because it makes you feel good."

Teacher J considers that the AEAs provide a "good support link for the

teachers", although Jill missed out the individual help that they provide to


less able students. When asked about the value of AEAs as role models to theAboriginal students Teacher J commented: "Yes, I have never really thoughtabout that. I suppose it is good for them to see other Aboriginal people

working and making good lives and "to see them [the AEAs] also acceptedinto the school community along with the other teachers is good for them to

see too."

Aboriginality and Racism

Aboriginality

Jill is obviously proud to be Aboriginal and this is recognised by both Parent Jand Teacher J. Parent J states clearly her pride and knowledge in herAboriginality as well as her non-racist view of life: "I am proud of who I ambut I look at life as a human being first so I don't ... I encourage her for beingwho she is. She is ... human. Her potential is who you are." Jill, referring toher pride in being Aboriginal, states: "Yes. I would be proud to be anything.Even an animal. I like the colour of our skin. And I like a few other things. Ican't think of them. They are stuck in my brain."

Racism

Jill encounters racism in her school and town life. When asked if there wasanything she did not like about being Aboriginal, Jill stated:

All the criticism that you get from other kids and other people when you are outon the street or you're in class. 'Cause everytime, like, if there is a break-in orsomething they blame it on an Aboriginal person here in [town name]. They don'tcare if it is an Aboriginal or a white person they just blame it on us. If someone tellsthem that it is a white person they won't take it that it is a white person becausesome they just don't like it. That is what I don't like. I like being Aboriginal.

Parent J acknowledges Jill's occasional problems with racism:

Just within some certain students. Some kids are very, very cruel. They say terriblethings to her and she comes home and tells us. Some days we get angry. It dependson what kind of mood we are in. Some days we get angry and we go yeah, well wecould go over there and rouse and row and go on but that is not going to get usanywhere. Now she goes to the teacher and just informs the teacher that she ishaving problems with a student.

Teacher J also is aware that Jill experiences racism: "I have had it only fromchildren that are obviously hearing stuff at home from their own families

Chapter 7: Results II – Case Studies Page 183

about Aboriginals that I have had to deal with, in calling them Abos and

things, which is not good."

Case s13, 'Adam'

In this section a picture is developed of Adam within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Adam's

mother is referred to as Parent A and his teacher as Teacher A.

A Snapshot of Adam

At the time of pretesting Adam was 8 years 11 months old and was aparticipant in the Intervention Group. Adam appears to be a child with

considerable potential in a number of ways. Physically he is a gifted athletewith striking good looks. Adam is clearly a leader in his group and is widely

liked by both teachers and peers. Further, Adam displayed high academicpotential as indicated in his posttest performance on the RSPM. Adam triedhard to put himself in a good light, although this may simply reflect hisimmaturity with respect to the future. For example, when asked what hewould have to do in order eventually to go to university, he replied:

Go right through and work hard and wear school colours every day and be nice tothe teachers and when you run into a person, pick him up and help him and saysorry.

Responses that suggested that Adam was saying what he thought I wanted tohear occurred several times in the interview.

Adam's teacher gives a picture of a child who enjoys sport, company and isinfluenced by peer pressure:

He is a friendly easy going sort of guy. He is generally keen to do well but he can beeasily distracted by peer pressure and people around him and then he can become alittle bit silly and lose it and his behaviour starts to deteriorate then. But he getson well with most kids and he is usually keen to try hard and he mixes with mostof the children. He certainly enjoys the sporting side of things and enjoys sport andart and craft activities but when it comes to English and Maths and the academicside he is not so keen.

Adam helps his cousin and another child in class. His mother commented:"He's been helping [name] boy since kindergarten. ... They are first cousins

and he has been helping his other little friend." However, Teacher A notes


that Adam's academic performance may have been negatively influenced byhis involvement with his friends in class. Teacher A stated: "At the momenthe is working brilliantly. He is on task all the time and as I said it is a matter

of keeping him away from his mates."

Adam has three older brothers and a father who are gifted athletes and artists.

These role models play a large part in his life and Adam frequently refers to

his brothers in the interview.

However, Adam could be disruptive. The field notes (Appendix 6.1) revealed

behavioural problems during the data collection were associated with arelatively large group size (15) and "The presence of a disruptive group", one

of whom was Adam.

Adam's perceptions of school were investigated by asking him to recountexperiences related to various aspects of school life. These data weresupplemented and triangulated with the experiences of Parent A and TeacherA. Perceptions of Adam's school experience are presented in the followingsection.

School


Adam appeared to enjoy school right from the beginning. His mother

commented about his early schooling: "He was shy and he enjoyed it."Adam's liking of school appears to have continued to the present time. Hismother said: "The teacher enjoys his company in the classroom and he enjoysbeing in the classroom." All was not perfect, though, as he has been in troublea few times: His mother noted: "... he only got into trouble at [school] a couple

of times but he sorted that out and he got on with his work and his friendsplaying." Adam remembered his early years of school as "It was quiet" and"fun" and having only minor moments of dislike. When asked how he felt

about school now, a bias toward sport emerged: "Really good because we havegot leisure sports tomorrow and I go rollerblading and we got a new park and

we got a racing course thing down there and we got soccer field and a footballfield and all that."


Adam appears to get along well with all his teachers and they with him.Adam considers that his current teacher treats him as special: "... [name]'cause we have to put our hand up and she comes around and she answersmost of your questions." Teacher A reciprocated Adam's affection and whenasked how she got on with Adam she replied:

Quite well I think. I like him. I think he is a great guy. He has got lots ofpersonality. I don't have any problems there. I don't think he ... he seems to bequite happy to talk to me too. I don't feel that there is any sort of barrier there.


Teacher A considers that Adam is not fully working to his potential, althoughhe has his moments of doing so: "At times he is ... he can have spasms. He

can go for weeks working really well and then his attitude changes and thenhe doesn't appear to be putting in his best effort so no, I don't think that he is

working to his potential fully." Teacher A felt that at that time Adam was

"Spot on in the middle" of the class in performance, but with respect topotential "I would put him into the average sort of picture. Perhaps slightlyabove average overall." Teacher A expects that Adam will complete theHigher School Certificate but that: "... he will scrape through. If he improveshis attitude and can put more into it I think he will do a lot better." Teacher A

feels that Adam's performance is influenced by peer pressure: "At the

moment he is working brilliantly, he is on task all the time and as I said it is amatter of keeping him away from his mates." Teacher A considered that

Adam needs support in the key subjects of reading and maths, but more so inmaths: "He doesn't have the confidence in maths that he has in English buthe still needs quite a lot of support with his reading, too." Teacher Arepeatedly returns to the issue of peer affiliation and performance:

I just think that sometimes he gets this attitude, 'I couldn't care less ... who cares',and once again I wonder whether that is what is happening in the playground orpeer pressure or what or if there is something else influencing him or whether hejust couldn't be bothered because it goes on for a couple of weeks and then all of asudden he will be back on track again and he will be listening well and keen to dowell. He certainly works a lot better on his own away from his mates.

Parent A feels that Adam is bright and clever and cites his interestingquestions, ability in art and building and application to homework: "It[homework] is supposed to last every night, do something every night, but hedoes it in the one night." Parent A's belief that Adam is bright is tempered by

the comment that "... he could do better too." Parent A feels that Adam will


do well in primary school and expects him to progress into higher educationand a job:

The way that he is going now I think that he would. Because he wants to be apoliceman so he just gets in and does all his homework so I reckon he could do justas good.

When asked if he was bright or clever Adam replied that he was "brightest atrunning." This parallelled his comment when asked if his parents thought hewas bright or clever: "Yes. Because I am clever at running." He followed thiscomment with an acknowledgement that his parents thought him bright at

schoolwork also. Adam expected to go to Year 12 and university and to haveto work hard to succeed: "You won't do well if you don't work hard." Whenasked if it is important to do well at school Adam replied: "It is important tothe teachers and your mum and dad and uncles and that."

Further indications of Adam's academic performance and potential are givenby his dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.


The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below in

Table 7.2 and provide insights into Adam's cognitive abilities and

performance.

Table 7.2: Adam's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)

Test RSPM Raw Score Percentile BandPretest 21 18Posttest 38** 69

44* 91Far Posttest 36 58

First attemptSecond attempt

Adam recorded a low RSPM pretest score and improved in the posttest,moving from the 18th to the 69th percentile band. Adam had performed to ahigh level in the intervention sessions and I felt that the posttest score did

not accurately reflect this. Adam seemed to be unfocused and unmotivatedduring the posttest. In light of these facts, I asked him to do the RSPM againthe next day with the proviso that he tried his hardest. Adam's second


attempt, which appeared to be conscientiously attempted, produced anothersubstantial jump to the 91st percentile band. The posttest score, however, was

not retained six weeks later when it fell to the 58th percentile band in the farposttest. These results suggest that Adam had underachieved markedly in the

RSPM pretest. Further, the relatively poor performance in the first posttestsuggests that Adam's score was also affected by non-cognitive factors. The

decline recorded in the far posttest score seemed to reflect a reversion towardsAdam's original behaviour and performance patterns.


Adam achieved below the 10th percentile band for numeracy and below the

25th percentile band for literacy in the Year 3 statewide Basic Skills Tests.

These scores are similar to the RSPM pretest outcome but are substantiallybelow both Teacher A's expectations and the RSPM posttest.

Homework

Homework is given regularly in Adam's class. When asked if Adamcompletes his homework Teacher A commented: "I don't see it, put it thatway. They are supposed to hand it in on Friday and I don't see it on Friday."and "Homework is never handed in." This problem seems to extend to non-formal homework: "We encourage ten to fifteen minutes of reading each

night and I don't think that is happening. I am quite sure it's not." Teacher A

is aware that Adam states that he does his homework but is doubtful that that

is the case: "He says he does it but whether it is left at home or he is justsaying he does it, I don't know." Teacher A's earlier unambiguous statementthat homework is never handed in was contradicted later in the interview:"Projects, I have had two projects, I think, this year and from memory, he didone of them and Dad helped out a bit with one of them." Teacher A, whenasked if she gives Adam extra leeway as an Aboriginal student, commented:

"Generally no, but occasionally I have probably crossed over there" and "Thatis generally in class, too, not just with the homework, yes."

Parent A and Adam provide a different view regarding homework. Parent Abelieves that doing homework is important: "The more you do your [home]work, the more you will know." Further, Parent A is sure that Adam is doing

homework at home and the Homework Centre:


Yes, he does it in one night before it is supposed to be finished on a Friday. He issupposed to do something Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Well, he does it all inthe one night.

Adam stated that he likes homework and feels that it is important:

Yes. It is really important because you get to learn stuff like if you didn't knowwhat your times tables were you just have to do your homework if you want toknow.

Adam claims that he does his homework at either the Homework Centre or

at home, mainly at the kitchen table. However, he never indicated whetheror not he handed in completed homework. Adam has his own room that hecan retire to if the kitchen is too noisy.


Teacher A is guardedly optimistic about Adam's long-term academic outlook:

I think if he can learn to stay on task and keep focused he will do well. Hegenerally enjoys learning and he has got support at home.

The problem of peer pressure re-emerged: " ... if he can be not pressured by

peers and distracted then he can improve his work habits. I think definitelythere is potential there." When asked if this potential extended to UniversityTeacher A replied: "He would have to work hard but I think he could, yes."

Both Parent A and Adam see a future involving higher education and apossible career in the police force. Both mother and son expect to makesacrifices in order to succeed in later higher education. When asked what he

would like to do when he leaves school Adam stated: "Go to university and

work there, study and all that, and try and become a police or something."Adam seems to have an understanding and grasp of what is required tosucceed in school and career.

Attendance

Attendance was not mentioned as an issue by Adam, Parent A or Teacher A.


Extra Help

Parent A feels that extra help could take the form of more one-to-oneattention. Parent A stated: " ... a bit of one to one. Yes sometimes I suppose ifhe is doing the work faster than the others he will probably need morechallenge." This statement is at odds with Adam's low BST results (10th and

25th percentile bands) and suggests that Parent A either does not understandwhat the BST results mean or chooses to ignore them.

When Teacher A was asked about what she could suggest to improve Adam'sschool performance, she replied that more time with the school's AEA wouldhelp. She put special emphasis on writing and maths support.


Teacher A sees the value of the school's AEA in Adam's education:"Academically and moral support and all aspects I think, yes." While TeacherA appreciates the help the AEA provides for the Aboriginal students sheindicated fully trained Aboriginal teachers would be of greater benefit.

Adam feels that it is a good thing to have an AEA because he helps with theclass work at times, runs the homework centre and provides a place wherethe Aboriginal children can gather, have fun and "... get a feed." Adam said:

When he walks past our class we've got hard work to do and he comes in and helpsus do it. Like all the Aboriginal people in our classroom he does work with themand I have got all my things right cause of [name] helped me.

Further, Adam agreed that it was good to have an Aboriginal adult in theschool.


Aboriginality

Adam stated that he is proud to be Aboriginal and is strongly affiliated withthe other Aboriginal children in the school. Teacher A noted that Adam isproud of being Aboriginal: "Yes he is, very much so." Like Adam, Parent A isproud to be Aboriginal and stated: "I am just glad to be Aboriginal."


Racism

Adam gave no indication that racism is an issue in his school. The only hintthat race issues might be a problem occurred when he declined to answer thequestion: 'Is there anything you don't like about being Aboriginal?' However,

Parent A did express concerns about racism in certain aspects of the widercommunity, but is supportive of the school in this respect. When asked if the

school or the teachers display any racial prejudice she replied: "No. I don'tthink so. He is happy here. And he is happy with his teachers so he gets ongood with anyone." However, on further questioning Parent A noted that attimes Adam experiences racial comments from other children: "Yes,sometimes him and [brother] ... kids calling them black and all this and that"and "Yes, but they get upset but I just explain to them just walk away from it

or, if it really gets to you, just tell the teacher that they are teasing you." Parent

A recognises Adam's own lack of prejudice: "... he gets on well with a lot ofhis friends who are white ... all different nationalities." Teacher A feels thatAdam is well accepted by his classmates but notes that he largely associateswith his [Aboriginal] mates.

Case s29, 'Sam'

In this section a picture is developed of Sam within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Sam'smother is referred to as Parent S and his teacher as Teacher S.

A Snapshot of Sam

At the time of pretesting Sam was 9 years 3 months old and was a member of

the Control Group. Sam was a friendly, gentle and shy boy who was apleasure to work with. Teacher S's description of Sam was:

He is very gentle, very nice to the other kids. He isn't nasty. I have never seen anasty thing by him. He is quiet so he probably finds it difficult to mix in but hedoesn't appear to. He is just very quiet and withdrawn and self contained Isuppose.

Teacher S noted that Sam shows good concentration and perseverance inclass but: "He mixes in well within his own group but doesn't really have

anything to do with the rest of the class." Teacher S also noted that Sam

"perhaps relies on his parents to sort out his problems."


Parent S noted Sam as a bright boy who loves TV and books:

when he gets pocket money he doesn't go and buy lollies and drinks and stuff likethat, he will go and buy a book. He will go to the newsagency and buy a book.Like, it could be expensive. It doesn't matter, he will still buy it if he wants it.

Sam, at times, displayed surprising initiative such as ordering an expensiveset of books from a magazine advertisement. Parent S commented: "I have

another bill for a couple of books that he has ordered."

Sam's perceptions of school were investigated by asking his to recountexperiences related to various aspects of his school life. These data weresupplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent S andTeacher S. Perceptions of Sam's school experience are presented in the

following section.

School


Sam remembers his first experiences of school as not being fun and "I wasnervous." Sam remembers he only "sort of" liked his teacher and that hedisliked "People being mean to you", a point that he would not elaborate on.Sam noted that he did like learning new things, games and "I made new

friends." Sam remembers a teacher he had when he was six who treated himas special: "She would help me with stuff." Now Sam likes school because itis "normal" and "People not being mean to me any more." Sam noted "I likespelling. My friends." When asked if there were things he did not like about

school now he replied "Not any more."

Parent S remembers Sam's early school experiences differently: "I was

surprised. He enjoyed school." When asked if there was anything negative in

Sam's first year of school Parent S replied: "No, I don't think so." Parent S feltthat Sam was doing well in school at the moment and had as much chance ofsuccess as anyone else.


Sam's classroom performance was considered "Probably average" by Teacher

S although she considered his potential "Perhaps higher than average but not


at the top." Teacher S noted that Sam had missed a great deal of school and

that this affected his performance: "His effort in the classroom is very goodbut I think he would do better if he was here every day." When asked ifspecific academic skill weaknesses may have resulted from time gaps in hiseducation, Teacher S replied: "I think so."

When asked if she felt Sam had as much chance as anyone else of doing wellin school Parent S replied: "Yes, I think he has." Since I had been warned by

school staff members that Parent S had previously had negative interactionswith the school when she had intervened on Sam's behalf, this response wasa little surprising. Furthermore, Parent S felt that little, if anything, needed tobe changed in the school to improve Sam's performance: "I don't think thereis any real big problems." Parent S indicated that she was pleased with Sam's

overall school performance. When asked if she thought Sam was doing as

well as possible she replied: "I think he is. He is only in Year 4 so I am pleasedwith what level he is at now."

When asked if Sam were bright or clever Parent S replied: "I think he is."

Parent S stated:

Some of them are just naturally gifted so that they will just continue to keep ongoing, but having a stable home makes a lot of difference too.

Parent S indicated that she thought that school was important for Sam'sfuture: "It is important because later on in life that is ... he needs that to carry

on and to get a job and to be able to support himself." Sam was reluctant to

comment when asked if he were bright or clever but I noted at the time:

When asked if he were bright or clever at school work he hesitated for someseconds before smiling and nodding his head in the positive.

Further indications of Sam's academic performance and potential were givenby his dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.


The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below inTable 7.3 and provide insights into Sam's cognitive abilities and performance.


Table 7.3: Sam's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)


Sam recorded a low RSPM pretest score (37th percentile band) and improvedsubstantially in the posttest (93rd percentile band). Sam's improvement in theposttest must have been attributable to factors other than those addressed by

the intervention as he had been part of the Control Group but had missed the

placebo intervention due to his absence from school. The posttest score was

largely retained six weeks later in the far posttest when it fell marginally tothe 90th percentile band. These results suggest that Sam had underachievedmarkedly in the RSPM pretest and that his posttest and far posttestimprovements were not due to formal intervention strategies, but werelinked to his willingness to participate to the best of his ability in the posttestand far posttest.


Sam achieved at approximately the 54th percentile band for literacy and atapproximately the 56th percentile band for numeracy in the Year 5 statewide

Basic Skills Tests. These scores were substantially higher than those achieved

in his RSPM pretest (37th) and were compatible with Teacher S's performance

expectations but below her opinion of Sam's academic potential. However,when compared with the RSPM posttest the BST outcomes represent a majorunderachievement.

Homework

Homework is given regularly by Teacher S. Sam stated that he thinkshomework is important and that he does homework at home and"sometimes" at the Homework Centre. Sam indicated that although he doeshomework regularly he doesn't always finish it, only "Some of it." Sam saidthat he has his room or his sister's room to do his homework in, suggesting a

reasonable work environment. Parent S, however, gave a different view

when asked if there was somewhere quiet he could work: "Not at home. He

Chapter 7: Results II — Case Studies 4

shares a bedroom with his brother and [name] is thirteen and he goes to High

School so there is a lot of interruptions." Parent S said that Sam does hishomework: "At home, in between, when the ads come on. He jumps up and

does a bit", suggesting a less than ideal work environment. Parent S feels thathomework is important:

Yes I do. It is important because they have got programs set out at school andthrough the class, through the day. If they are able to do it and they know theycan do it they come home and complete it. It builds up their confidence and makesthem feel good that they know how to do something.

Teacher S indicated that, although "we had problems in the beginning" Samwas "Much improved" in the handing in of homework and he was "actually

finishing it and it is messy but his actual content is good" and "To completeactual homework has improved remarkably from last term and this term."


Parent S has hopes that Sam will complete the Higher School Certificate:"With encouragement from me, yes." This encouragement and hope extendto a university education for which Parent S feels Sam has the ability: "Iwould like to think along those lines. I don't know." When Parent S wasasked whether she expected Sam to eventually get a job she gave a positive"Yes I do" in response, although what that might be was unclear as at thisstage: "He's just being a kid."

Teacher S commented that Sam would "probably" complete the HigherSchool Certificate but that the result would depend upon whether heattended the local school or not. (Note: This comment was made as the localhigh school had a reputation for poor academic performance with respect to

Aboriginal students.)

He would probably go to [town] High because he wouldn't be game enough to goaway but I feel that his parents could offer that if they wanted. Averageprobably.

When asked to predict Sam's performance under ideal conditions Teacher S

ventured: "Sixty or seventy."

Sam declared his main ambition after school to be a professional sportsman:

"I always wanted to play tennis" but indicated that he would also like to


become a policeman. Sam indicated that he would go on to the Higher SchoolCertificate and that he was prepared to study and do the necessary homework.When asked about going to university Sam replied: "I don't know." Sam didnot reply when asked if he would like to go to university.

Attendance

Sam has missed a lot of school and Teacher S considers that this is affectinghis performance: "He tries very hard in class and it has greatly improved but

with high absentee rate. He could produce better results." Sam's absences

have often been due to recurring tonsillitis resulting in his missing a "coupleof weeks in one sitting." The nature of Sam's medical condition wasconfirmed by Parent S: "That is why Sam has been home most of the time. Hehas been waiting on a bed for two years" [to treat his tonsillitis].

However, Sam's absences were not restricted to these episodes: "First term I

could say every Friday he would be off." Teacher S continued: "It wasn't justillness." This negative trend in absenteeism seemed to be changing. Teacher Snoted better attendance accompanied by better classroom performance: "Yes,

he is much better I think."

Extra Help

While Parent S feels that Sam is doing well and sees little need to changethings, Teacher S feels that Sam has areas "Probably to catch up on." Teacher S

pinpointed the issue when she noted that:

He picks things up pretty quickly, though. Unfortunately he can do that, whereasI have other children in the class who can't pick it up quickly and so they get theassistance.

It would seem that because Sam is able to cope he does not receive the helpneeded to overcome knowledge gaps and hence work to his potential.


Sam thinks it is a good idea to have an AEA in the school "Because he is anAboriginal." Although the AEA helps with things such as Aboriginal

language and songs Sam does not go to him with problems because "I don'thave problems."


When asked if the school AEA is important for Sam's education Teacher Sreplied: "Not for Sam, no." Teacher S explained that she felt that Sam'sparents provide his major role models and:

I think it is very important for a lot. But for Sam I don't think it is as important. Itmight be but he doesn't seem to look for any of them or anything.

On reflection Teacher S reconsidered her position on AEAs, stating:

I guess when you say about the role models, having the all white staff, supposedlyteaching staff, the AEAs probably are a very important role [model].


Aboriginality

Sam replied with a clear "yes" when asked if he was proud to be Aboriginal.

Sam is a very shy boy and in this section of the interview he could not beinduced to give more than yes or no answers. In this manner he indicatedthat he likes all things Aboriginal and has no Aboriginal issues he does notlike. Parent S is proud of her Aboriginality and stated: "Just being anAboriginal, an Indigenous person, makes me feel good about what I am."Parent S encourages Sam to be proud of his Aboriginality: "Yes. That is what

we are" although she noted that this is not specifically targeted: "Not really.We don't do anything special." Teacher S thinks that Sam is proud to beAboriginal, stating: "I would say so" and further noted that "He doesn't push

the Aboriginality at all."

Racism

Sam feels comfortable at school and noted he has the same chances as anyoneelse as doing well at school and that "I don't have problems" that might mean

his seeking the help of the AEA. These views are supported by Parent S whoreplied "Yes, I think he has" when asked if she thought Sam has the samechance as anyone else of doing well in school. When specifically asked if shefeels Sam is hindered in his progress by racism Parent S replied: "No, I don't

think so." Sam gave no indication that racism is a problem for him in school.

Teacher S, however, gave a view that was not so clear cut when she noted:


He mixes in well within his own [Aboriginal] group but doesn't really haveanything to do with the rest of the class. He doesn't interact with any of theothers.

Teacher S appeared to play down any racial issues and when asked if there

were any racial overtones in the class stated:

Within the class? No. I won't say it definitely but I've never seen or heard aracial comment in the class. I'm not saying that there is nothing there but I havenever seen it. Actually when there were nits in the class one of the children saidthe Aborigines gave it to her. So there is obviously a little bit on that side.

In summary Teacher S noted: "I can't say I have seen an awful lot [of racism]or that it is a major problem" but conceded that "The parents are a big thing"

[in the racism within the town].

Case s68, 'Claire'

In this section a picture is developed of Claire within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Claire's

mother is referred to as Parent C and his teacher as Teacher C.

A Snapshot of Claire

At the time of pretesting Claire was 9 years 5 months old and was aparticipant in the Intervention Group. I noted Claire as a "very shy" andpleasant child, who did not stand out in the group. Claire's shyness was also

mentioned by Parent C.

Teacher C perceived Claire as a complex child with many strengths. Teacher C

commented:

I think she is a good friend. I think she is. Any time I have ever seen her out in theplayground she has always been a good friend to people. She always tries to dothe right thing. She loves netball and things like that. She is honest. She is anhonest person.

Teacher C further noted that "She has the strength where she believes her

own convictions and she won't be swayed" and "She always did try very hardto do the right thing behaviour-wise." In contrast to her strengths Teacher Calso saw Claire as a:


very introverted type of person and she seems to worry about things that aren'trelevant to what needs to be done. She worries about ... she is constantly sayingthat she is sick. She plays on that a lot and that takes up most of her time. She isvery emotional about it.

In addition, Teacher C noted that: "It takes a lot to draw things out of Claireand it is a hard job to do that" and "She needs constant praise and constanthelp off the teacher to keep on going with the task."

Claire's perceptions of school were investigated by asking her to recountexperiences related to various aspects of her school life. These data weresupplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent C and

Teacher C. Perceptions of Claire's school experience are presented in thefollowing section.

School


Claire liked school from the beginning, with memories of her first year of

school centred on friends: "I found lots of friends. And they played with me

through the year" and on pleasant teachers: "They are nice to me and Ihaven't been naughty since I have been in Kindergarten." When asked how

she felt about school now, Claire responded: "good" and indicated that sheenjoys school and likes her teacher. When asked if she has any teachers whotreat her as special Claire simply replied "Sometimes." School does have anegative side for Claire, and she commented "people tease me and fight withme" [sometimes]. When asked why, Claire would not answer and shruggedher shoulders when it was suggested it may have been due to herAboriginality.

Parent C remembered Claire's first school experiences: "She was very shy.Wouldn't let me go. I took her into the class." Parent C shares Claire's view

that she enjoyed school, commenting: "Eventually, yes. When she got used to

everyone around. When she started to mingle and that." Parent C noted thatshe "got on good with all her teachers" and "Liked the other kids."



Teacher C generally held expectations of Claire's academic performance below

that of her academic potential. Teacher C considered that Claire:

... will only ever be a good average student. I don't see her reaching any greaterheight but I still don't believe that she has reached her potential as yet. I thinkshe has a long way to go.

Teacher C implied that Claire's introverted nature and family history werecontributing factors.

She is a very introverted type of person and she seems to worry about things thataren't relevant to what needs to be done. She worries about ... she is constantlysaying that she is sick.

Teacher C foreshadowed that it may be difficult for Claire to reach heracademic potential:

I don't know if it sounds like bias but I do know a lot of Claire's sisters. I havetaught some of them. I don't think perhaps the home environment helps withthat. I don't think Claire has the personality to say to herself, 'okay this issomething I am going to do and I am going to achieve it' type of thing. For Clairewhatever is the easiest thing to do she would do. Whether she has the ability ornot. When it gets to the end of Year 10 it would be just easier to leave school. Idon't think she has that drive.

Teacher C feels that Claire's school performance is currently hindered by "No

task commitment" and poor completion of set tasks, both homework and

class based.

When asked if she considers Claire bright or clever, Parent C replied: " Yes, Ido", although she later expanded, commenting that Claire is "Oh, medium"with respect to the other children. Parent C considers Claire is bright or cleverbecause of "Things she come out with. It was full of surprises all the time."Parent C, who had limited schooling herself, is surprised at the level ofClaire's schoolwork: "Because the maths today I couldn't understand. It is

totally different to what I learned. And she does it at home, it surprises me."

Parent C expects that Claire will do well in primary school and feels she has asmuch chance as anyone else to do so, and commented: "I'm happy with her at

the moment." When asked if there were anything she would change in theschool to make things better for Claire, Parent C replied: "I can't think ofanything", although later in the interview she did comment: "Sometimes shegets a bit slack on her homework." Claire feels that both her parents think she


is bright or clever, while she thinks that she is "Sometimes." Claire seemed

unsure about the importance of school and she stated: "I don't know. Veryimportant." Claire also seemed unsure when asked if she had as much chanceas anyone else of doing well in school and said "I don't know."

Further indications of Claire's academic performance and potential weregiven by her dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST)outcomes.


The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below inTable 7.4 and provide insights into Claire's cognitive abilities and

performance.

Table 7.4: Claire's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)

Test RSPM Raw Score Percentile BandPretest 32 28

Posttest 44 81

Far Posttest 42 72

Claire recorded a low RSPM pretest score and improved in the posttest, with amove from the 28th to the 81st percentile band. In the far posttest Claireachieved a slightly lower score (72nd percentile band) than in the posttest.These results suggest that Claire had substantially underachieved in thepretest compared with her well above average posttest score. Claire's pretestRSPM score appears to be reasonably compatible with her classroomperformance but below her view of her potential. The dynamic testingprocedure indicates that both the pretest and classroom rating represent asubstantial underachievement compared with her cognitive potential.


Claire achieved at approximately the 14th percentile band for numeracy andthe 10th percentile band for literacy in the Year 5 statewide Basic Skills Tests.

These scores represent a substantial underachievement when compared withteacher expectations of academic performance and potential and the RSPM


pretest scores. With respect to the K5I'M posttest these scores represent a large

underachievement.

Homework

Homework is given regularly in Claire's class and she agrees that it isimportant "Because you have got a lot of things to do and you have to get

used to them." However, when asked if she does homework at home shereplied "sometimes." Following the interview Claire confided in me that she

often does homework but does not hand it in to her teacher who, in turn,does not often ask for it. Parent C was aware of this issue, stating:

She is doing it [homework] at home but she is not handing it in. She must just forgetit I think. She sits down every evening and does it, and she must just forget it.

Parent C indicated that Claire does all of her homework at home even thoughthere is a school Homework Centre: "There is one but she hasn't been."Parent C feels that homework is important and had well developed thoughtson the issue:

Not only what they learn in the classroom, it gives them the chance to teachthemselves out of the classroom. They get the homework and they have do it athome. And that sort of helps them to learn a little bit more by themselves withoutthe teacher being there.

Teacher C sees homework as a problem in Claire's academic developmentand commented:

Homework or set work at school. It was a real push for completion, to completionof work. There wasn't very much completion of homework. Occasionally ithappened but not very often. Perhaps once that had happened.

Teacher C was aware that Claire often did her homework but did not submitit and suggested that this was a part of the overall problem Claire had withtask commitment:

Yes the task commitment. Just the fact that it is just making sure you bring the bookback, that type of commitment. Often she would say that 'I have done it. It is athome' and it never returned and I am sure that in those cases it is quite true.


Parent C wants Claire to complete the Higher School Certificate (HSC) butexpressed reservations following the failure of her other daughters to do so.


Parent C stated: "I want her to complete it" [the HSC] but "It is hard to say at

this point. I thought that for all my girls but they haven't yet." The samedoubts related to higher education. Parent C commented: "If she does Year 12I don't know if she will go on." However, Parent C did note that she feels thatClaire has a better chance than her sisters of reaching the HSC: "I think so. I

tend to encourage her a lot at home."

Parent C agreed that doing well at school would improve Claire's chances ofgetting a good job but qualified this line when she stated:

It all depends. Like at the moment she is only learning things at school whereaswith me I learned things after I left school. And I have a good job now. I am happynow with the job that I've got.

Parent C was unsure of what Claire's career hopes might be and stated: "Shehasn't quite told me what she is interested in yet."

Teacher C clearly feels that Claire will not proceed on to the HSC and relatedthis belief to issues of absenteeism and family history rather than her

academic ability. Teacher C stated: "But in a nutshell, I think it will be a Year

10 finish, perhaps an average result at school." When asked what she thought

Claire might achieve if she did complete the HSC, Teacher C ventured: "Iwould envisage something under 50."

Claire expects that she will complete the HSC but could give no indication ofwhat her future career might be, stating: "I don't know." When asked if shewere prepared to make sacrifices to do well at school, Claire stated "yes", butadded "sometimes" when specifically asked about not watching TV or not

going out with friends.

Attendance

Parent C did not mention attendance as a concern in Claire's schooling.

However, Teacher C saw absenteeism as a concern:

It is not bad enough that it warranted somebody going to see about it but there wasoften perhaps weeks where there was one or two days and I know it was becauseClaire said she was sick.

Teacher C revealed that Claire missed about one day per week and added:"Yes. That bad." Teacher C fears that this trend in attendance will continue


into high school: "I don't know whether Claire's attendance at high school

will be very good."

Extra Help

The interview data did not suggest that Claire needed any extra help with her

school work.


Claire feels that it is good to have an AEA in the school "Because he helpskids do their work. He does a lot of drawings that look good" and that it is

nice to have an Aboriginal person [other than a student] in the school.

Teacher C sees the school's AEA as a valuable addition to the school who actsas a positive role model for all children, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike:

Yes he is certainly a role model. But I don't think we have drawn that line wherewe say he is Aboriginal. Just the Aboriginal AEA. Every child in the school loves[name] like every other child. And he has that relationship with every childbecause of the community it is. It is absolutely important and I think he is a greatrole model. Not only to the school but to the community. But whenever there isactivities or we have groups in class it is certainly white and Aboriginal childreninvolved in those and I just see how he deals with the children and there is nevera bias, never a ... . I love him. He is great.


Aboriginality

Claire indicated that she is proud to be Aboriginal but was reluctant to explainwhy or discuss what she likes or dislikes about being Aboriginal. Parent Cclearly expressed her pride in being Aboriginal when she stated: "Yes, I am

proud to be Aboriginal." Parent C neither encourages nor discourages Claire

to be proud of her Aboriginality and commented: "If she wants to be. Itdoesn't matter really. That situation doesn't worry me any."

Teacher C feels that Claire is proud to be Aboriginal and noted that: "She does

sometimes [mix with non-Aboriginal children] but mainly Aboriginalchildren." Claire's Aboriginality does not seem to be a major issue with


Teacher C who stated that: "she has never given me any reason to thinkotherwise" [that she was not proud to be Aboriginal].

Racism

Claire feels that she has as much chance as anyone else of doing well inschool and did not give any indications that racism is a problem. Parent Creinforced Claire's lack of concern regarding racism in her school life.

When asked if there were any hints of racism in the classroom, Teacher Ccommented:

No, not at all. Perhaps Claire is one of those people I would have said that wouldnever happen to. She seems to get on with everybody and I can't even really saythat she has one special friend. She seems to mix with a lot of people.

Issues related to racism were conspicuous by their absence in Claire's

interviews.

Case s52, 'Ian'

In this section a picture is developed of Ian within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Ian'smother is referred to as Parent I and his teacher as Teacher I.

A Snapshot of Ian

At the time of pretesting Ian was 9 years 4 months old and was a participantin the Intervention Group. Ian was a quiet boy with a friendly but shy smile.Ian's shyness was such that it was difficult to involve him in the initial group

ice-breaking activities.

Teacher I described Ian in a positive way: "He is a pleasant little person tohave around. I don't know that there is any huge bouncing strength that youwould notice." Teacher I perceived Ian as a quiet boy whose unassumingnature sometimes was mistaken for a lack of confidence:

I think that his weakness may be not a lack of confidence in himself ... he is justvery quiet and very unassuming and I think that means that sometimes he gets abit lost along the track.


Ian's previous bad experience in another school was noted by Teacher I:

Well I think that he learned to hide because he had come from a bullying sort ofsituation into our school where it was smaller and his mother had a huge amountof anxiety when she moved in here and I was expecting a child that actually hadsome sort of communication problem with his peers. He doesn't have that. He isvery quiet but he has reasonable social skills and I think that he actually workedquite well at trying not to be noticed for a long time and I think he had alreadylearned that in his first K-2 experiences. He learned to be out of the way.

Parent I sees Ian as "very unpredictable" and, at times, lazy. Although Parent I

feels that Ian is only average academically she did note "things that he isinterested in seem to come really easy to him."

Ian's perceptions of school were investigated by asking him to recountexperiences related to various aspects of school life. These data weresupplemented by and triangulated with the experiences of Parent I andTeacher I. Perceptions of Ian's school experience are presented in the

following section.

School


Ian's memories of his first year of school were that he liked it "a bit", "I didn'twant to leave my mum" and that "It got boring." Parent I, though,remembered his first school experiences as plainly positive:

It was pretty good, wasn't it. He played with everyone. He seemed to have got onreally well with the teacher. Keen to go to school every day.

The relatively pleasant beginning of Ian's school life did not last. At thebeginning of the school year [of data collection] Ian had moved to his present

school where he appears happy and where there is "nothing" he does notlike. When asked how he likes his present school Ian's thoughts about his

previous school were made very clear when he stated: "Better than [schoolname]." Ian then added that he likes school because "I have more friends." Athis previous school "There were heaps of people that bugged me a lot."Parent I was very concerned about his previous school and the lack of support

she got to change things for Ian:

We had no opportunity when he was going to [previous school] to change thingsthat were happening. We weren't happy with the school or the teaching up


there. So we changed him over to [present school], so that was simple. We couldchange things up at [present school].

Ian noted that he likes his teachers but none treats him as special and they

treat him "Just as another one of the kids."


Ian was new to his present school. The school's principal noted: "Ian came to[school name] this year with a note that he was a slow learner." Teacher Inoted that currently Ian "is functioning fairly well on the borderline of what Iwould expect Year 3 kids to be doing" and that his classroom performance is:"At the moment, ... falling slap bang in the middle apart from his readingactivities" [which were higher]. Teacher I feels that Ian can further improvebut that he is "on the way to working to his potential" since arriving in her

class earlier in the year. Ian scored well above average in the statewide Basic

Skills Tests which surprised Teacher I. I added the following comment to the

interview data:

Following the interview we discussed Ian's strong Basic Skills performancefurther. At one point Teacher I let it slip that the teachers had discussed hisbetter than expected performance in terms of "who he was sitting near" during theexam. Teacher I quickly withdrew the comment when she realised what she hadsaid.

In contrast, Parent I rejected any suggestion that Ian is bright or clever: "Notreally. He is average. I wouldn't say he is bright" although she did note "Hesits back and takes a lot in probably mentally but never expresses it to anyoneelse." Parent I repeated that she feels that "Personally I think he will either bestill on average or below average" but also conceded "He has got a lot morepotential there. He is lazy." In contrast to both Teacher I and Parent I, Ian

replied with a firm "yes" when asked if he were bright or clever. Whenfurther asked about being bright or clever Ian said he is "the third brightest inthe class", which suggests that he was well aware of his academic potential.Ian also claimed that his parents feel he is bright or clever "'Cause they say

things, good things to me about things."

Further indications of Ian's academic performance and potential are given byhis dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.



The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below in

Table 7.5 and provide insights into Ian's cognitive abilities and performance.

Table 7.5: Ian's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)

Test RSPM Raw Score Percentile BandPretest 45 86

Posttest 50 97Far Posttest 47 93

Ian recorded a high RSPM pretest score (86th percentile band) and improvedin the posttest to the 97th percentile band. In the far posttest Ian achieved aslightly lower score (93rd percentile band) than in the posttest. These results

suggest that Ian may have slightly underachieved in the pretest compared to

his very high posttest score but more significantly it would seem that bothTeacher I and Parent I have substantially underestimated Ian's cognitive

potential as indicated by the dynamic testing procedure. In fact, it appears that

there has been a large underestimation even compared with the pretest score.

This conclusion is supported by Ian's high (top 30%) rating in the Basic SkillsTests.


Ian achieved at approximately the 70th percentile band for literacy and the67th percentile band for numeracy in the Year 3 Basic Skills Tests. These

scores represent an overachievement when compared with Teacher I's

expectations for Ian's performance and potential but are substantially belowthe RSPM pretest outcome. When compared with the RSPM posttest the BST

scores represent a very substantial underachievement.

Homework

Ian is given homework regularly but is irregular in handing it in. Ianconceded that homework is important but said that he just does not likedoing it and claims that he will only get into trouble from his teacher "a tinybit" if it is not submitted. Teacher I noted that homework is handed in"Sometimes. Less than half the time" and regarding the standard


commented: "He doesn't do it as well as he could." Ian stated that he will only

do homework if "my Mum tells me" and that if Mum does not intervene it

will not happen "because I forget." Ian indicated that he is not prepared tomake sacrifices, such as not watching TV, in order to do homework. Ian'sattitude to homework seems to be supported by Parent I who gave a flat "no"response when asked if she thought homework was important. Parent I

expanded:

Because I feel that they go to school 9 till 3 every day to be taught at school andtheir home life is for home. It is like going to work. You go to work to make aliving. You get home, you don't work at home.

Parent I is clearly reluctant to insist on homework completion:

I can't see the point in us fighting with him for half an hour or yelling at him forhalf an hour to make him do his homework. He doesn't want to do his homework.Sometimes he will just sit up at the table and do it. Well, that is fine.

Parent I's reluctance to push Ian to do his homework may have its

foundation in Ian's father's bad experience:

[father name] was forced and forced and forced to give things for school and heended up absolutely hating the place. Because not only was he pressured at schoolto do his school work but also at home to do the schoolwork and they just madehim hate school.

His father added: "So as soon as I was old enough to leave, I left."

Ian has his own room where he can do his homework but often it is done inthe kitchen or lounge room. Ian commented that his "sister always comes in"to disturb him in his room.


Parent I feels that Ian has as much chance as anyone else of doing well inschool except that "He is probably a little bit slower." Being Aboriginal is notseen as an issue in Ian's education: "I don't think that has ever affected him."Parent I expects that Ian will eventually get a job and recognises that doing

well at school would improve his chances:

Oh God yes. Yes. Law of averages says that will happen. Do well at school andyou will get a better job.


However, Parent I does not think Ian will finish Year 12 due to his perceived

lack of academic ability and "Once again, he is lazy. And I think being taughtin a large class just doesn't suit him either." Regarding education after school

Parent I stated: "I would expect him to either go on to TAFE or do anapprenticeship somewhere."

Teacher I expects that Ian will eventually complete the Higher School

Certificate and ventured: "I would put him into the 70th percentile." TeacherI also recognised Ian's leaning toward practical things and suggested a career

in that direction:

I would see him heading down the ... it used to be the technic side. The designengineering. And he has a very good understanding of how things work in togetherso I would probably see him in the field. Be it a TAFE tertiary or university. I'mnot sure but I think he has the capacity.

In contrast with Teacher I's expectations, when asked if he has as much

chance as anyone else of doing well at school Ian replied: "Not really." Whenasked why, Ian stated: "I don't know" but felt that the work was too hard,

especially maths and spelling. I then asked him "You don't like to fail thingsdo you?" to which he gave a clear "no" in reply. Ian indicated that he is

unlikely to go on to Year 12 and once again the apparent fear of "hard work"reappeared: "My sister is getting hard work in Year 7 and she is not in Year 12

yet." A further insight into Ian's concerns about hard work became evidentwhen he stated "not really" when asked if he feels that efforts in school arerewarded. Ian explained this view by stating [because] "I don't work hard."

Ian is very uncertain about future employment and when asked if he is likelyto get a job when he leaves school he replied: "Probably not." However, when

asked again what he would like to do when he leaves school Ian replied: "Be

a motorbike stunt person. Stay at home."

Attendance

Parent I expressed strong views on missing school unnecessarily: "Theireducation is more important than having a day off for this and that and Godknows what." Supporting this statement Teacher I noted that Ian's attendanceis "excellent."

Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies Page 210

Extra Help

Ian appears to have few problems either academically or socially in his

current school. Teacher I feels that Ian "Academically ... intellectually, hedoesn't have any issues" [that need addressing] and it is only shyness and theneed to become academically more involved that are holding him back.

When asked what could be done to improve Ian's academic performance,

Parent I noted it might be beneficial for "Probably just a little more one-on-one work with him" to occur. However, Teacher I noted that extra help fromthe school's AEA is limited due to Ian's ability to cope:

I suppose it is not a fault but [AEA name] has been channeled into areas where kidsare having difficulties be they behavioural or academic and she has beenchanneled into catering for those students and within my class Ian is not one of theAboriginal students that has sort of required as much input.


Ian feels that it is good to have an AEA in the school because "sometimes shecomes in when you are doing hard work" and "She comes in and sometimestakes me out. If I forget my lunch she provides some for me." When asked ifit is good to have an adult Aboriginal person in the school Ian replied in theaffirmative and stated: "Because then you don't feel alone."

Teacher I initially indicated that the school's AEA "has very little impact onhim" due to his ability to cope. However, Teacher I did concede that "She is agood role model" and "I think he would go to [name] if he had a problem."


Aboriginality

Ian is proud to be Aboriginal, even though his father is non-Indigenous. Iancould not specify why he likes being Aboriginal and indicated that he has notreally thought about it. However, when asked if there is anything he does notlike about being Aboriginal, he replied clearly: "When people think that you

are not Aboriginal." This response was probably a result of his physicalfeatures which are not obviously Aboriginal.


Parent I readily accepted her Aboriginality while at the same time

downplayed the importance of racial difference:

I never deny the fact that I am Aboriginal so I would say that, yes, I am proud tobe an Aboriginal. And I am Aboriginal. What is there to like? What is thedifference between being white or Aboriginal?

Parent I has encouraged Ian to be proud of his Aboriginal heritage by tellinghim about his Aboriginal grandparents and getting him "involved inanything to do with the Aboriginal studies or any programs happening at theschool to do with the Aboriginal children."

Teacher I indicated that she was surprised when informed that Ian was of

Aboriginal heritage but acknowledged his pride in that heritage:

I don't think that the culture is carried through in his home but he is reasonablyproud I would say. He certainly readily acknowledges his Aboriginality.

However, Teacher I made the observation that as far as peer groups areconcerned "he doesn't function within the cluster of Aboriginal children as

such. His friends are non-Aboriginal, his close peers are non-Aboriginal."

Racism

Racism did not appear to be a problem in Ian's life. This included his troubled

school years at his previous school. Parent I holds a balanced view and seesno difference between being Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal, perhaps as a resultof an affiliation with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures.

Furthermore, Parent I has experienced few problems with racism in her life:

"I never got tormented growing up or anything like that, so no." Parent I ispositive that Ian will not be disadvantaged educationally due to hisAboriginality. Teacher I saw racism as a non-issue in Ian's school life,supporting the views of Ian and Parent I.

Case s62, 'Linda'

In this section a picture is developed of Linda within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Linda'smother is referred to as Parent L and her teacher as Teacher L.


A Snapshot of Linda

At the time of pretesting Linda was 10 years 1 month old and was aparticipant in the Intervention Group. Linda was an outgoing but attention-seeking child who often seems a little unhappy.

Teacher L noted Linda as "a very easy going kid" who "fits into the class quitenicely." In regard to Linda's academic ability, Teacher L commented: "the

other children look to her for assistance" with their work and she was"usually pretty helpful with the other younger children in the room."Teacher L saw that Linda's classroom interactions were not always positiveand that she could "allow herself to be manipulated" by peer pressure.Teacher L considered Linda a "very capable child" and commented that she

was "very competitive" with her main classroom rival. Teacher L noted that

this rivalry seemed to stimulate attention seeking behaviour from Linda:

I think it is when Linda can see that [name of other student] might be a little bitbetter than her at something. That is when she looks for more attention for me tohelp her out.

Parent L noted Linda as a "quiet, shy girl" who seemed to "need a challenge"

in her schoolwork.

Linda's perceptions of school were investigated by asking her to recount

experiences related to various aspects of school life. These data weresupplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent L andTeacher L. Perceptions of Linda's school experience are presented in the

following section.

School

Linda had changed schools about a year earlier due to Parent L's unhappiness

with the previous school.


I noted that "At the time of the interview Linda was unhappy with herschool. It was hard to get her to answer questions at times." Linda'srecollection of her first year of school was "Going on detention" although she

liked that year of school. She liked her teacher that year because "She was nice


and she never growled at you." When asked if she liked school now Lindagave a clear "no" in response and continued "Because it is too hard." WhileLinda has generally liked her teachers she indicated that she had never had a

teacher who treated her as special.

When asked if she thought Linda enjoyed her first year of school Parent Lcommented: "Yes, I think she did." However, Parent L remembered that "shewas a quiet, shy girl and she had trouble fitting in" but "as far as learning

anything she was okay." Parent L was unhappy with Linda's previous schooland felt that Linda could not reach her potential there. Parent L explained:

In her other school, no. She had an older brother that used to have behaviourproblems and the teachers lumped her in with that because he was the brother.

Further Parent L stated that "I felt really uncomfortable at the other schools"and eventually agreed that this feeling was racially based. Parent L was clearlysensitive to racist issues in school, stating: "I had traumatic schooling." ParentL was happy with Linda's current school and felt that Linda had as muchchance as anyone else of doing well: "At this school, yes."


Teacher L rates Linda academically as "just above average, I guess" with

literacy her strength. When asked if she thought Linda was working to herpotential Teacher L commented:

Not completely. She sometimes looks for more attention to do the work. To havesomeone do the work with her and yet I know that she could do it on her own. Ithink sometimes it just might be attention. Getting some attention in the classroombecause she is one of the more capable children and is able to work moreindependently so she is not a kid that requires a lot of attention and so I think thatmight be what it is with her but she could certainly work a bit more on her own.

Teacher L realised that initially "the work that I was giving her was too easy"

but now she had settled in "she is able to work at the level of work that I amgiving her."

Parent L considers that Linda "is bright. I don't think she is above really a

genius or anything, but I think she is a bright child, yes." When asked if she

thinks Linda might be average or above, Parent L responded: "I don't know.

She might be above average a little bit." Parent L cited Linda's "good

concentration and that she picked up reading really quickly in the first year of


school" and that "She usually understands what is going on" as reasons for

considering Linda to be clever. Parent L is concerned that Linda will not do aswell as possible and stated "Probably not. No", adding:

She says that it is easy work. She is just repeating the work over and over thatshe already knows and she needs a bit of a challenge.

Parent L expressed her fears for the future when she ventured:

I have fears that she is not going to be [up to standard] when she gets to highschool, that she won't be up to the level of the other children.

When asked why, Parent L replied: "I don't know why."

Parent L's traumatic schooling experiences seem to have affected Linda who,when asked if her mother thought it was important to do well in school,replied with a straight "no." Linda indicated she does not think she is brightor clever and is undecided whether her mother thinks so: "Sometimes. No." I

had doubts that Linda was being entirely frank about the issue of her ownability. A post-interview event revealed a fear of losing favour with hermother if she was revealed as good at school. I noted:

After the interview Linda confided that her mother did not like school and wouldnot like her if she was good at school. A meeting was arranged with her mother. Itold her mother of her high academic potential. She was delighted to be told thisand Linda, seeing the response, hugged her mother and began crying.

Further indications of Linda's academic performance and potential are given

by her dynamic testing and the statewide Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.


The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below inTable 7.6 and provide insights into Linda's cognitive abilities and

performance.

Table 7.6: Linda's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)



Linda recorded a little below average RSPM pretest score and improved in theposttest from the 42nd to the 75th percentile band. In the far posttest Lindaachieved a substantially higher score (91st percentile band) than in theposttest. These results suggest that Linda underachieved in the pretestcompared with her well above average posttest score, but underachievedmore strikingly when compared with the far posttest score. The dynamictesting outcome indicates that both the pretest and classroom rating representa substantial underachievement compared with her cognitive potential.


Linda achieved at approximately the 55th percentile band for literacy and

below the 10th percentile band for numeracy in the Year 5 Basic Skills Tests.The numeracy score represents a substantial underachievement whencompared with Teacher J's expectations and the RSPM pretest outcome. Theliteracy BST outcome was more in line with teacher expectation but well

below Linda's cognitive potential as revealed by the dynamic testing. Whencompared with the RSPM posttest and the far posttest these scores represent a

major underachievement.

Homework

Linda is rarely given homework: "Mrs [name] doesn't give us homework."

When asked if she would like to be given homework, Linda answered with afirm "yes." Teacher L explained: "It sort of dragged off. We were doing it fairlyregularly at the beginning of the year and then it dragged off towards the lastcouple of terms." Linda feels that doing homework is important andindicated she would do it if given. Teacher L noted that homework had beendone and submitted by Linda on the rare occasions it was set. Linda indicatedthat she has a place at home where she can work undisturbed: "In mybedroom. Yes."

In contrast Parent L gave a clear "no" when asked if she thought homework

was important and commented: "I just think that they do enough work at

school, when they get home that is enough."



Parent L expressed concerns about Linda's immediate educational future.

When asked why she thought this way Parent L responded: "I don't knowwhy." I had the impression that many of Parent L's responses to questions

about Linda's schooling were coloured by her own bad school experiences.When asked if this was the case Parent L responded: "I don't know. I hadtraumatic schooling, so I don't know." Despite her immediate concerns,Parent L has hopes that Linda will complete the Higher School Certificate: "I

hope so. I think she will. If I encourage her enough she might stay." Parent

L's vision of Linda's academic future extends to tertiary level and when askedif she thinks that Linda will go to university or TAFE she replied:

I would like to think that she would but that will be up to her. I encourage her nowand explain to her that she has to do these things to get on in the world.

Linda commented that it was "Really important" to do well at school if she isto achieve her stated goal of becoming a doctor. Linda is aware that she willhave to score well in the Higher School Certificate and go to university toachieve this goal. Linda recognises that she will have to work hard to achievethis goal and is prepared to do so. When asked what might happen if shedidn't work hard at school Linda replied:

I won't get a good job and they won't want me to ... No-one ... they won't want me tobe a person working for them.

Teacher L thinks that Linda will complete the Higher School Certificate, buthas some reservations:

I hope that she would because she's certainly got the potential. it depends on somany things, homelife and everything else. I would say yes.

Teacher L reinforced the high opinion she has of Linda's academic potentialwhen she added: "I would say that she would do around seventy or eighty,I'm sure."

Attendance

Teacher L did not mention absenteeism as a problem for Linda. When askedif Linda attends school regularly, Parent L commented: "Yes. Good

attendance." However, it appears that there are minor problems with


attendance due to a problem with her sports teacher: "She don't like thesports teacher. She tries to skip them, Friday afternoons."

Extra Help

Extra help is freely available in Linda's class and Teacher L observed thatLinda will often seek that help for reasons other than the difficulty of thework:

To have someone do the work with her and yet I know that she could do it on herown. I think sometimes it just might be attention. Getting some attention in theclassroom because she is one of the more capable children and is able to work moreindependently so she is not a kid that requires a lot of attention.

In contrast, Linda expressed her frustration with maths and when asked ifthere were anything that she would change in school so that she would do

better, she replied: "Teach me my times tables properly."


Linda feels that having a class AEA is a good idea, and this view is supportedby Teacher L who feels the "extra curricular things" done by the AEA are a

great help to the students.


Aboriginality

Linda indicated that she is proud of her Aboriginality. Parent L confided thatin her own case "It [her Aboriginality] was hidden until I grew up. Until thekids started calling me names at high school. I went home and asked Mum."Parent L continued:

Yes. My mother was white and my father was sitting there as dark as anythingbut I didn't know. I just thought he worked in the sun. I had never seen anAboriginal person.

An insight into the origin of Parent L's lack of knowledge of her Aboriginality

was given when she revealed:

My father ... he and his two brothers were Stolen Generation and we have neverfound out. He has since died and we don't know anything.


Parent L is proud of her Aboriginality and takes a conciliatory view of history

despite her own disturbing experiences:

Of course I am proud. I am proud of our people. That we have survived this longand all the good you see now that we are doing. We can forgive, not forget, butforgive what has happened and live in the same world as each other.

Parent L encourages Linda to be proud of her Aboriginality in a number ofways:

Just tell her about things, about why it is, the way it is. We read things. Wealways go to social events where there are lots of Aboriginal people. That is allthat we associate with.

When asked if she thought Linda was proud to be Aboriginal, Teacher L

responded:

Yes, definitely. She was very upset when children didn't think that she was [shehas very light coloured skin]. She was really upset about that. Yes, she iscertainly proud of it.

Racism

Racism does not seem to be a problem in Linda's current school. It was notmentioned in her interview. However, Teacher L indicated that Linda's verylight skin did cause a few short-term problems in her current school:

That was a problem at one stage. A lot of kids didn't think that [Linda] wasAboriginal and she was given a bit of a hard time about that actually, so it isinteresting that you asked. Once that was pointed out that, yes, she is indeedAboriginal, it hasn't been a problem since.

However, Parent L indicated that at Linda's previous schools racism was aproblem and she "felt really uncomfortable" in those school environments

due to racial overtones.

Case s16, 'Nola'

In this section a picture is developed of Nola within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Nola's

mother is referred to as Parent N and her teacher as Teacher N.


A Snapshot of Nola

At the time of pretesting Nola was 9 years and 1 month old and was aparticipant in the Intervention Group. Nola was a chatty, outgoing andattention-seeking child who, along with most of her group, "tried out the

system" during the early data collection and intervention sessions. Teacher Ndescribed her as: "kind to a fault. Generous. There is not a malicious bone inher body. She is just a gentle sharing nice little girl." Parent N noted that Nola"has a very good sense of humour" while Teacher N pointed out thatalthough Nola is shy, she "certainly responds to praise" and that while

focusing and concentration often presented difficulties for Nola, "Once she

sets her confidence then she seems to be able to concentrate a bit." Teacher Nfelt that the poor concentration was related to "insecurity and a lack ofconfidence."

Nola is a kind child who often gives up her own progress to help otherAboriginal children in the class. Teacher N commented that:

she tries to help her cousin who is IM and she often doesn't get her own work donebecause he is asking her to help him and she is too kind to say no sometimes.

Nola seems to gravitate to her Aboriginal peers whenever possible but retains

her own "innocence" when dealing with more "streetwise" peers. Teacher N

noted how effective Nola is in helping her cousin who has behavioural as

well as learning difficulties:

he [her IM cousin] doesn't ever seem to take it out on [Nola] and she is the one whocan calm him down and who he can turn to if he wants some help because he isdrawn to her and yet none of that behaviour seems to rub off on her.

Nola's perceptions of school were investigated by asking her to recountexperiences related to various aspects of school life. These data weresupplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent N andTeacher N. Perceptions of Nola's school experience are presented in thefollowing section.


School


Nola's first experiences of school were still clearly etched in her mind and shereminisced that it was no fun. Nola remembered "I didn't want to leave myMum. I didn't want to come to school." Nola also remembered that she didn'tlike school, that the schoolwork was "easy" and that "I only played with allmy cousins." Although Nola now likes school, stating "It's fun", she

considers the schoolwork is "a little bit hard." Although Nola feels that most

of her teachers are good and one of her current teachers treats her as "special",there are concerns about some teachers in the school with respect to racism.

Parent N remembered Nola's first year at school as "she wasn't too keen on it.She had days where she liked it and wanted to go back and she had weekswhere she didn't want to go." However, Nola did seem to settle in as the year

progressed. Parent N remembers: "She was quiet. In the middle of the yearshe got into it and was a real little Miss Busy Body." Nola's lack ofenthusiasm for school in the first year did not seem to be teacher-centred, for

Parent N noted that "she loved her teacher. The teacher was good."


While Nola is rated academically by Teacher N as "Probably slightly below the

middle", it was added that "I am sure there would be more there that youcould tap into." Teacher N feels that Nola's shyness and "erratic"

concentration are the two factors contributing most to her perceivedunderachievement. Teacher N further noted that: "One thing that doesconcern me is that whenever we do whole class things where everyone issitting together she will tune out." One outcome of Nola's erraticconcentration and perhaps her previously noted willingness to help herfriends is that "she usually doesn't finish things."

Teacher N feels that Nola would benefit from one-to-one instruction but she

does not receive this from the school's AEA. Teacher N explained: "...

children that behave well and try hard like Nola don't get any extra help fromthat area."


Parent N feels that Nola has the same opportunities as everyone else in herschool but is capable of doing better: "she is very capable. We know that andshe knows it" and "She is bright when she wants to be." Nola supported this

view when she responded to being asked if she is bright or clever by saying"when I am trying." Nola had recently moved to her present school andParent N feels that much of Nola's lack of performance at her previousschool may have been related to her being away from her friends: "She did

more [at the present school] because most of her friends were at this school."

Further indications of Nola's academic performance and potential are givenby her dynamic testing and the Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.


The RSPM scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest are presented below inTable 7.7 and provide insights into Nola's cognitive abilities andperformance.

Table 7.7: Nola's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)


Nola recorded a slightly below average RSPM pretest score and improved

from the 43rd to the 81st percentile band in the posttest. The posttest score wasretained six weeks later when it rose slightly, to the 83rd percentile band inthe far posttest. These results suggest that Nola substantially underachievedin the RSPM pretest, supporting the views of Teacher N and Parent N thatNola is underachieving in class.


Nola achieved at approximately the 10th percentile band for literacy andbelow the 6th percentile band for numeracy in the Year 5 Basic Skills Tests.These scores represent a substantial underachievement when compared with


Teacher N's expectations and the RSPM pretest outcome. When compared

with the RSPM posttest these scores represent a major underachievement.

Homework

Nola is given homework regularly by her teachers (she has two teachers on a

split-time arrangement) and she stated: "I do my homework." Nola indicated

that she thinks homework is important and that she "usually" does it well.Homework is regularly done at the Homework Centre provided forIndigenous students but sometimes it is done at home, while help isoccasionally given by "Dad" and other family members. Nola indicated thatshe has her own room in which to do her homework, which provides a

suitable physical environment. Following Nola's interview I found out thatNola rarely hands in homework to be marked so I asked Nola about this andshe reluctantly admitted it, saying "uh oh, I'm in trouble now." Nola couldnot give a reason for not submitting the homework other than she was oftenaway on the day it was due to be handed in.

When asked about Nola's homework Teacher N stated: "It could be

completed and I have never seen it." Teacher N was not aware that Nola was

not handing in her work because "homework is not the area that I amresponsible for." Teacher N then gave an unsolicited but telling insight intothe issue:

Maybe also she feels that because the homework hasn't been marked that it is notvalued. Because she has got so far behind she might be too frightened to admit it.Maybe what we need to do is say I know that you have been doing your homeworkNola but you have missed a lot of Fridays and you haven't handed it in. Wouldyou like to show me your homework book so I can see all the hard work you havebeen doing and kind of clear the slate.

The realisation that Nola is not handing in her homework prompted TeacherN to comment that Parent N must wonder "Why are they doing all this workif it is not acknowledged?."

Parent N stated that she thinks homework is important as "It gives them ajob that they have to finish to bring back to school. A bit of responsibilityhelps with their education." Parent N feels that Nola does her homeworkregularly: "Yes, she does it in front of us" but "She doesn't get it completelycompleted...."

Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies Page 223


Parent N acknowledges the importance of school and expects Nola to do wellin school and progress through to Year 12 and university:

She is already talking about going through school now and on to Uni. It is a thingwith me and [name] we teach our kids ... there is nothing after you leave school.Just take a look around the neighbourhood where they live ...

Furthermore, Parent N feels Nola has as much chance of doing well asanyone else in her school.

Nola appears to be aware of behaviours that she could change in order to

improve her school performance. She admitted "I usually muck up. I couldtry not to and not to distract others" and "I would ask for help." Nola alsothinks that she could improve her "attitude" to school. Nola has clearambitions to "Go to Uni and try and get a job as a police[woman]" andrecognises that she would "need to study" to achieve these goals.

Teacher N does not seem as positive about Nola's academic future. When

asked if Nola would reach Year 12 in her schooling Teacher N stated:

That is a tough one because there are a lot of cultural issues there too. I think it isunlikely simply because I don't know if it would be a priority for the family. Ithink if she were given the right support and understanding I think she would beas capable of doing it as some of the other children who are around the middle ofthe class.

Further, Teacher N commented:

I don't see her getting into University course ... I imagine she would be capable ofdoing something like a child care certificate course at TAFE or something likethat.

Attendance

When asked if she thought school attendance was important Parent N

replied: "Yes, very important." However, Nola's unhappy days at herprevious school were accompanied by poor attendance:

Yes with her coming to school we found that at [school name] she was missing alot. She didn't want to go to school, refused to go to school, and cried and she'd getback and she would be lost as to what the other kids were doing. She was missingout on how to do certain things. But this year there was no problem, she wouldcatch a bus and she would want to come to school.


However, even at her new school it is apparent that Nola misses many

Fridays through the family interest in football. When asked if Nola missedmuch school now Parent N replied: "No, only if she is sick or if I want towatch the football. I never leave my kids so when I want to go and watch[name] play I will take them with me."

Teacher N is aware that Nola misses a lot of Fridays but did not stress this as a

problem except with respect to homework.

Extra Help

Teacher N noted that Nola is shy "and if someone is shy and they don't reallygive things to you then you have got to have the time to get it out of themand there isn't always that time." Expanding on Nola's need for extra help,Teacher N noted that the role of the school's AEA seemed to be focused awayfrom those Aboriginal students that gave the appearance of coping:

This sounds a bit negative but we have [name] here and not one of the four childrenin my class ever see [name]. His priorities are more the behaviour problemchildren, that is the squeaky-wheel type children that demand more attention interms of their behaviour, so children that behave well and try hard like Noladon't get any extra help from that area.

When asked what would be the one suggestion she would make to improve

Nola's academic performance Teacher N said: "I would love to have moretime to spend with her myself but I have to share it around."


Nola feels that it is good to have an AEA in the school for a variety ofreasons. Firstly Nola felt that it was good to have an Aboriginal adult in theschool and that it was good that "he comes into the classroom and listens tous read." This view, however, seems to contradict Teacher N's statement that"not one of the four children in my class ever see [name]." When Nola was

asked why it is good to have an AEA in the school she immediately indicated

that it is "More fun" with an AEA. Parent N supports the value of theschool's AEA to Nola's schooling.

Teacher N reflected that the school AEA is important as a role model and


... I think it is very important to all of the Koori children because I think they feelthey have got an advocate that they can turn to. Someone who understands them.

The racial overtones that have appeared at times in this school are also notedby Teacher N:

He also can say things to them that we can't say because we ... a racial kind offeeling might be read into it whereas if it comes from him it is not perceived thatway.


Aboriginality

Nola indicated that she is proud to be Aboriginal. Parent N is clearly proud to

be Aboriginal and passes that on to Nola:

Very proud. Being Aboriginal it is a close knit family. I find that we are veryclose. Not only your family but a big extended family. Everyone is really close inthe community. Everyone where we live, everyone looks out for each other's kids.Everyone looks out for each other. It is really like one big family. Being anAboriginal is a bit of a privilege.

Teacher N noted that Nola is proud to be Aboriginal and on several occasions(cited above) referred to Nola's affinity with her cultural peers.

Racism

Nola is aware of racism and feels that this is a problem with some teachers.

Nola stated: "... there is some teachers that only pick on blackfellas all thetime." When asked to quantify the number of teachers she feels exhibit racistbehaviours Nola indicated that there were "many." Parent N is aware ofNola's concerns about racism from teachers: "Yes, mainly the prac teachers. Itmight just be Nola but she said the prac teachers pick on the Aboriginalstudents more than the white students." Supporting Nola, Parent N

continued: "Kids see things. They see them for what they are." Parent N

indicated tolerant attitudes when she stated: "you might be Aboriginal butyou are still the same as everyone else. Colour doesn't really matter."Furthermore, she attempts to pass these views on to Nola: "We teach all ourkids that actually."


Teacher N feels that Nola has no trouble fitting into the class environmentand that there are no racial issues with her, although some of her Aboriginalclassmates had problems:

I think a lot of it is a chip on the shoulder thing, looking for trouble where itdoesn't exist and then using it as an excuse.

Neither Nola, Parent N nor Teacher N noted any concerns with respect toracist issues with other children in the school.

Case s26, 'Kate'

In this section a picture is developed of Kate within the school and of theattitudes and expectations of the child, the parent(s) and the teacher. Kate'smother is referred to as Parent K and her teacher as Teacher K.

A Snapshot of Kate

At the time of pretesting Kate was 8 years 0 months old and was a participant

in the Intervention Group. Kate was a quiet, perhaps shy child, who wasattentive and interested. Teacher K sees Kate as an intelligent little girl who"is very determined and I have never seen her give up" and who "is veryquick to accept responsibility for her actions." Teacher K clearly perceivesKate, as a person, in a positive light:

I would say that she is a very Christian little girl. She is very considerate ofother's needs. She is very perceptive of herself as an Aboriginal person and whereshe fits into the class because of that. I consider her a very nice little girl who isn'tnasty.

Kate's perceptions of school were investigated by asking her to recountexperiences related to various aspects of school life. These data were

supplemented by, and triangulated with, the experiences of Parent K and

Teacher K. Perceptions of Kate's school experience are presented in thefollowing section.


School


Kate remembers her first school experiences as positive: "I liked it." Kateindicated that she enjoyed all aspects of her school life, but her enthusiasm

was qualified when asked if she liked her first teacher: "No, not a lot." Kate'scurrent school experience seems to be positive and she commented: "It's

great." Kate is enthusiastic about her current teacher who she feels treats heras special: "She is nice." Kate's only reservation about her current schoolexperience concerns homework. Her concern seems to be centred on aprevious teacher: "Because with Mr [name] you had to do your homeworkand bring it in every day" and "If you don't do it you've got to go on the

verandah."

Parent K supports Kate's view of a positive beginning to her school life:"From day one she just enjoyed it and she just took off" and "She fitted infrom day one. She didn't have any problems with school."


Teacher K considers that Kate is "Above average. She is in my top five out of27" and that this estimation centres on her academic abilities: "Sporting not

so much. Artistically no." When asked what she considers Kate's potential tobe, Teacher K replied: "She could be anything she wanted to be if she put hermind to it." Teacher K noted that Kate shows excellent educational attributes:"She is very independent in her working. She also listens very, very carefullyand she tends to grasp things very quickly. If she doesn't follow she is veryquick to ask." When asked what could be done to improve Kate's academic

outcomes Teacher K commented:

Maybe for her to work more with the Anglo Saxon children who are bright. If sheis working with those students she will then see that she has the same amount ofability as they do.

When asked about Kate's prospects for the Higher School Certificate TeacherK stated: "If she is in [town], no. If she gets a scholarship like a lot of the

Aboriginal children are now and she manages to get out of [town], yes."Teacher K explained:


If she keeps going as she is now I would say she will always be one of the brighteststudents. So long as she is always motivated and never feels less than she is.

It is clear that Teacher K does not think Kate will "keep going as she is now" if

she stays in her present town.

When asked what might be done to improve Kate's educational outcomesTeacher K confided:

I think maybe teacher attitudes need to change towards Aboriginal students forfuture education. I would say that is the major thing. Teacher expectations.

Parent K recognises Kate's academic ability: "I think that she is very

intelligent for her age", explaining:

Just the way that she has conversations with me. It is not like a little eight-year-old kid, how an eight-year-old kid would talk. She has intelligent conversationswith me.

Parent K is generally happy with her progress: "She could improve a bit butshe is doing well enough." Parent K feels that Kate is not disadvantaged in

her education: "She has the same opportunities as the others" and that

Aboriginality is not a factor: "I don't think that has anything to do with it."

When asked if there was anything she would change in the school Parent K

replied: "I am really happy with the school. I don't think there is anythingthat I would change."

Kate, when asked if she were bright or clever, gave a direct "yes" in reply andindicated that her parents also recognise this because of "The things they say."Kate feels very positive about her chances of doing as well as anyone else in

her school, and gave clear affirmative answers to all inquiries.

Further indications of Kate's academic performance and potential are givenby her dynamic testing and the Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes.


The RSPM (cognitive variable) scores at pretest, posttest and far posttest arepresented below in Table 7.8 and provide insights into Kate's cognitiveabilities and performance.


Table 7.8: Kate's Raw Scores and Percentile Bands on the RSPM (CognitiveVariable)

Test RSPM Raw Score Percentile BandPretest 35 58Posttest 43 91

Far Posttest 45 96

Kate's pretest RSPM score (58th percentile band) indicate that she is a littleabove average compared with the instrument norms and represented an

underperformance compared to Teacher K's interview estimation. The

posttest (91st percentile band) and far posttest (96th percentile band) showsubstantial increases over the pretest, suggesting that the pretest represents a

substantial underachievement. The posttest scores support Teacher K's viewthat Kate is in the top group of her class. The very high far posttest score (96thpercentile band) suggests that Teacher K, despite her high opinion of Kate'spotential, may have underestimated her cognitive potential as indicated bythe dynamic testing.

Basic Skills Test Outcomes

Kate achieved at approximately the 82nd percentile band for numeracy andthe 68th percentile band for literacy in the Year 3 Basic Skills Tests. These

scores were reasonably close to Teacher K's performance expectations but

were substantially higher than Kate's RSPM pretest score (58th percentileband). However, Kate's BST outcomes were substantially lower than theRSPM posttest and far posttest, suggesting a degree of underachievement

compared to her cognitive potential. This notion was supported by Teacher

K's opinion that Kate had more potential despite her good schoolperformance.

Homework

Kate regularly is given homework, which she indicated is important: "Soyou're getting smarter every time." Kate stated that she does her homeworkmainly at home although she does some in the homework centre. Kate has a

quiet room to herself — "It is not my room, it is a spare room" — in which todo her homework and sometimes receives help from her mother. Kate


indicated that she hands in her homework but sees homework in a negativelight at times: "You always have to bring your homework in."

Parent K considers homework "important but not that important" in Kate'sschool life although she considers that it is one area in which Kate couldimprove: "She gets a bit lazy at home in the afternoon after school. She likes

to sit down and watch TV." Parent K indicated that she takes a keen interest

in Kate's homework efforts and "After she has finished I check it to see if shehas finished and then I go and let her play." Parent K noted that Kate doesmost of the homework at home rather than at the homework centre because

"She doesn't think she has to" [use the homework centre].

Teacher K expressed a different view of how homework is attempted by Kate.

Teacher K noted that Kate completes homework "Sometimes, but it is to areally poor standard." Despite the fact that Kate's [step] father works in thehomework centre and Parent K works in the school, Teacher K observed:

I know that she comes from a good family so her basic needs are met. I have had abit to do with her step-Dad and I get the impression that they want to help withthe homework but I get the feeling when they get home that they could not bebothered. So I think that the parents don't follow through with, like, what areyou doing at home? How is your homework going? But the minute they see me theywant to know has Kate got any homework because she hasn't done any in ages.


Parent K expects that Kate will get a job when she finishes her education and

that doing well in school will improve her options: "Yes of course it will. I

regret not finishing High School and I think that if she did do well at schoolshe would have a better chance at getting a job or going on." Parent K

speculated as to possible career paths for Kate including teaching andmedicine:

I don't know if she would make a good school teacher because she can't handle hersisters. She could be anything she wanted, Kate, she is that clever.

Teacher K's previously noted concerns for Kate's academic future if shestayed in her home town did not dim her view of Kate's potential to achievein the Higher School Certificate. Teacher K expected "A very high standard. I

would say she could be in the top twenty to fifteen percent of the state if sheput her mind to it."


Kate stated that she wanted to go on to Year 12 and that she would like to get a

job like a "Shop keeper. Doctor." Kate expects that there will be a lot ofhomework required if she wants to go to Year 12 but when asked if she would

be prepared to do that she responded with a flat "no" and refused to elaborate.I then asked: "Then you won't be able to be a doctor? What do you think?" To

this Kate gave no response.

Attendance

There appear to be no problems with Kate's attendance record, with TeacherK noting she is an "excellent" attender.

Extra Help

Teacher K feels that Kate is a very bright child, that "She doesn't need one toone" [tuition] and that assistance should centre on making "her believe that

she is an above average student." Teacher K suggested that:

Maybe for her to work more with the Anglo Saxon children who are bright. Shedoes not see herself as a bright student and if she could see herself as a brightstudent I think she would have the confidence to go further.

Parent K sees little need for extra help and is very pleased with the school: "I

am really happy with the school. I don't think there is anything that I would

change."


Kate feels that it is good to have an AEA in the school because "He helps byteaching the Aboriginal language" and that it is good to have an Aboriginaladult in the school. Despite being positive about the school's AEA Kate

indicated that she does not go to the AEA if she has problems.

Teacher K is very positive about the value of AEAs in her school:

I think that AEAs are very important to all Aboriginal students. I think a lot moreimportance should be placed on them than what is placed on them now.

Teacher K stressed the importance of the AEAs as role models: "I think that

they are a huge role model. I think that they're the major role model for those

Aboriginal kids." Teacher K then added a note of concern that, while one of


the school's AEAs is "a great bloke", he comes to school "with big red eyes.Makes no secret of the fact that he drinks. I don't think that is a good rolemodel."


Aboriginality

Parent K is comfortable with and proud of her Aboriginality although it doesnot seem a big issue: "I suppose. I never thought it. Yes." However, whenprompted, a depth of pride in her Aboriginal heritage was revealed. Parent K

expanded:

With this language program that we are teaching the kids, all of that language,most of it came from my grandfather so I am really proud that I have something todo with that. I am really proud of my heritage and my culture. It makes me reallyproud. I feel really proud every time his (grandfather's) name is mentioned withthe language.

Parent K displayed the same low key approach when asked if she encouragedKate in her Aboriginality: "I don't discourage it. At home we help her learnthe language better. I try and speak it at home."

Teacher K feels that Kate may have been a little confused about herAboriginality:

I would say she is confused. I know that she has made reference to a little boy ... inthe class, him being a white Aboriginal and her being a brown Aboriginal. I thinkshe gets confused as to what she really is and what her role is in society becauseshe is not like the Aboriginal kids within the school but then again she is notaccepted by the white kids either or she won't let them accept her.

Teacher K, however, noted that "In the classroom she mixes with Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal students but in the playground she mixes solely with

Aboriginal students."

Kate said she is proud to be Aboriginal and when asked why replied: "I don'tknow. I am just proud."


Racism

Teacher K's previously noted high expectations for Kate's future academicsuccess are clouded by concerns with town racism and teachers' attitudes andexpectations. Teacher K noted that Kate is accepted by most of the girls in theclass but stated: "I don't know about the boys. I have some very racist boys"

and followed by noting that there are some "Very big [racial] overtonesfloating around."

In contrast, Parent K and Kate expressed little concern about racial issues. Kate

feels that she has as much chance as anyone else of doing well at school andthat being Aboriginal does not make it harder for her. Parent K expressedsimilar views: "I think she has. She has the same opportunities as the

others."

Group Themes Emerging from the Individual Case Studies

The eight case studies presented in the previous section reveal a number of

themes with respect to the school performance of the children as well as theattitudes and expectations of the child, parent(s) and teacher. These include

school experiences and teachers, performance and teacher expectations,expectations for the future, extra help and Aboriginal education assistants and

Aboriginality and racism. In this section these themes are summarised.

School Experiences and Teachers

The early school experiences of the participating children were mixed. Nola,Sam, Ian and Linda expressed varying degrees of dislike of their first year atschool. Each of these four was described as being shy by either their parent orteacher. However, only Claire indicated that she dislikes her current school

experience. All students like their current teachers, although Nola, Kate, and

Sam stated that they have reservations about some of their past teachers ortrainee teachers. On the other hand, only Kate and Sam indicated that theyhave a teacher in their school career who has treated them as special.



Kate is the only student of the eight case studies whose school performance isconsidered to be clearly above average by her teacher. However, in all casesthe teachers felt that the students were not working to their full potential.The reasons given for the perceived underachievement include chronicabsenteeism (Jill, Nola, Sam and Claire), lack of self-belief (Kate), peer

pressure (Adam and Nola), poor task commitment (Claire), poor previous

school experience (Nola and Ian), poor attitude to school academicperformance, including homework (Linda, Adam, Nola, Sam, Ian and Claire)and previous sibling educational history (Claire). The parents of all students

except Ian (the top scorer on the RSPM and the Basic Skills Tests) and Clairefelt that their child is bright or clever in an academic sense.

The RSPM (cognitive variable) pretest scores for Jill, Adam, Sam, Kate, Lindaand Claire are under achievements when compared with the teachers'expectations of classroom performance, while Ian's RSPM score is anoverachievement on the same criterion. However, the RSPM posttest scoresindicate that, in all cases, the classroom performance of the child represents amarked underachievement when compared with the cognitive potential of

the child. This outcome is supported by the fact that all teachers felt that thechildren were performing below their academic potential in class. However,

no teachers indicated that this was a substantial underachievement.

The Basic Skills Tests (BST) outcomes of Adam, Nola and Claire were wellbelow the teacher perceptions of their classroom performance. Jill, Linda, Kateand Sam performed reasonably close to their teachers' expectations, althoughLinda and Jill performed at this level only in the literacy section of the tests.Ian, once again, performed above the teacher's performance expectations in

both the literacy and numeracy components of the BST.

School performance was affected by a number of factors but two, homework

and attendance, emerged as major issues of concern.

Homework

Seven of the eight case study students were given homework regularly. OnlyLinda's teacher did not give homework. Despite the fact that homework isseen as important by Jill, Adam, Nola and Claire, and by their parents, they


rarely hand it in to the teacher, although all stated that they complete at least

some, but often most, of their homework at either the Homework Centre orhome. Kate and Sam regularly complete and hand in homework, while Ian

hands in homework less than half the time. Kate's and Sam's parents bothfelt that homework was important, a point acknowledged by Kate but notSam. Ian's and Claire's parents both feel that homework is unimportant,perhaps reflecting their own expressed negative school experiences. None of

the teachers is entirely satisfied with the homework performance of thechildren.

The case study teachers displayed varying attitudes toward the homeworkefforts of the children. Only teachers S and K insisted that homework becompleted and submitted. Teachers C, I and A received little homework fromClaire, Ian and Adam but did little to encourage homework completion.Teacher A admitted that she gave Adam extra leeway in this regard. TeacherC was even aware that the homework was being done but not submitted.However, she did nothing to ensure it was submitted. Teachers J and N wereunaware that Jill and Nola submitted little homework. Teacher L did not givehomework.

Attendance

Adam, Kate, Ian and Linda all have attendance records that satisfy theirteachers, whereas Jill, Nola, Sam and Claire have missed enough school tocause teachers concern about their continued academic progress. All parents

declared that they perceived school attendance as important despite theworrying attendance records of Jill, Nola, Sam and Claire. Only Sam missedsubstantial school time through illness.


All of the case study students, except for Claire and Ian, expressed the hopethat they will one day have some sort of job following their education.However, there was universal agreement, from both parent and child, that

school is important for the child's future. All parents indicated that their

child had as much chance as anyone else of doing well in school.


All parents except Ian's expect their child to proceed to the Higher SchoolCertificate (HSC). With the exception of Claire all of the children also hopedthat they will do the HSC. In contrast to the clear parental view of thechildren's educational future, the teachers held less optimistic expectations.Teachers N and C feel that Nola and Claire will not proceed to university andthat a successful HSC is a doubtful proposition. Teachers K and S considerthat Kate and Sam are able enough but doubt their progress to a successfulHSC if they remain in their home town. Teachers J, A and L all expresseddoubts on the successful completion of the HSC by Jill, Adam and Linda. The

source of the teacher concern is centred on attitudinal and social issues rather

than academic ability. In contrast to Parent I and Ian himself, Teacher I gives

unreserved support for Ian's ability to proceed to a successful HSC.

Extra Help and Aboriginal Education Assistants

Jill, Adam, Nola, Sam and Ian are seen by their teachers to need extra help toovercome knowledge gaps and skill deficits. However, they are not receivingthat help from one important potential source, the school AEA. Teachers j, A,N, S and I all agreed that extra help is not forthcoming from the AEAs due tothe children's perceived ability to cope better than less able peers whoreceived the bulk of the available assistance time. Kate was noted by herteacher as requiring no extra assistance with her classwork as such, butTeacher K feels the issue of self-belief needs to be addressed. Teacher Lconsiders that Linda does not require extra help but often seeks it in an

attention-seeking way. Teacher C made no comments regarding the need forextra help for Claire.

All of the children unreservedly agree that it is good to have an AEA in the

school. Seven of the eight children considered the main reason for this wassimply to have an Aboriginal adult in the school. All teachers, to differentdegrees, feel that it is good to have an AEA in the school as it providespositive role models for the children. Teacher K, however, noted that theAEA needs to be the right person or a negative influence might result.



Aboriginality

All children participating in the case studies indicated that they are proud tobe Aboriginal. Furthermore, all parents and teachers perceived that their

children are proud to be Aboriginal. However, the parents of Kate, Claire andIan pointed out that their Aboriginality is not a big issue and is not stressed in

the household. In the school environment most of the children mix largelywith their Aboriginal peers, Ian being the only exception, for he mixed almostentirely with non-Aboriginal children.

Racism

Racism in the school life of the participating children was noted to varying

degrees by the children, teachers and parents. Racism was reported as aconcern by Jill and Nola, although several other children were reluctant to

talk about this issue. The parents of Jill, Adam, Nola, Sam and Linda reportedracism in the school lives of their child. However, none of these concerns are

considered to be negatively influencing their child's school progress. Theteachers of Jill, Kate and Sam acknowledge that some racial issues exist intheir schools.

All participating children and parents implied non-racist attitudes with

respect to the school and their prospects in the education systems.

The major themes that emerge from the interview data are not always

perceived similarly by parents and teachers. At times, there is a cleardissonance between the perceptions of the parents and teachers. The main

areas of differences in perception between the parents and teachers involvethe academic ability of the child, homework, attendance and academic

expectations for the future. These differences are summarised below.

Differences in Perceptions between Parents and Teachers

Academic Ability of the Child

Of the children participating in the case studies only Kate is considered to beclearly above average academically by her teacher. Linda, Claire, Adam, Ian,


Sam, Nola and Jill are all considered to be about average by their teachers. In

contrast, Parents J, A, K, S, N and C all consider that their child is bright orclever academically, while Parent L agrees with Teacher L's slightly above

average assessment. Only Parent I rated her child's academic ability below that

given by the teacher.

Homework

The views of parent and teacher about the importance of homework andcompletion of such work were different on a number of occasions. Allteachers, other than Teacher L, regularly give homework to their students,indicating that they think it important. Parents J, A, N, K, S and C allindicated that they considered homework important, yet only Sam, Kate(mostly), and Ian (sometimes) regularly hand in homework to the teacher.However, Jill, Adam, Nola and Claire often complete homework but rarelyhand it in to the teacher. Teachers J and N were unaware that the homework

was not handed in as they team taught their classes and homework was nottheir responsibility. In view of the implied and stated stances that homeworkis important, the question arises as to why the teachers and parents of Jill,Adam, Nola and Claire do not follow up on the non-submission of due

homework.

Attendance

All parents interviewed expressed the view that school is important for theirchild, yet four of the eight children had attendance records that concern theteacher. Sickness was implicated in some of these absences but did not fully

explain the unsatisfactory attendance.

Academic Expectations for the Future

Another dissonant point between teachers and parents relates to future

expectations about academic success. This is one area where a wide differenceoccurs. Only one of eight teachers expects the child they teach to complete theHSC successfully, while seven of eight parents expressed the opinion thattheir child will do so.


The clear dissonance between parents and teachers discussed in the abovesection suggests that a lack of knowledge and understanding may exist in bothparents and teachers. Firstly, participating teachers, with one exception, heldexpectations of the student's academic potential substantially below thatindicated by the dynamic testing. This was accompanied by low expectationswith respect to their student for immediate classroom performance and

future academic success. The unrecognised academic underachievementsuggests that the participating teachers did not fully understand factorscontributing to the school performance of the participating children.Secondly, even though most parents expressed the view that school wasimportant they seem to lack knowledge and understanding of the schoolsystem and what it takes to succeed in that system, which results in inactionregarding homework and attendance that could have deleterious effects on

current and long-term academic performance.

Conclusion

All of the children selected as case study participants are of high academicpotential (>80th percentile band in the dynamic testing), while five are in the

designated gifted range (>85th percentile band). The eight case studiespresented above were analysed within the themes of school and Aboriginality

and racism. A number of findings emerged.

• The children generally like school and their teachers but only twochildren indicated that they have experienced teachers who treat them asspecial.

• All of the case study children are underachieving (to varying degrees) inschool when compared with their academic potential as indicated by the

dynamic testing procedure. Teacher expectations of school performance

are generally below the child's academic potential.

• Incomplete and not submitted homework and poor attendance recordsemerge as two sources of below-potential school performance.

• All parents indicated that they feel that school is important and that theirchild has as much chance as anyone else of doing well in school. Mostparents feel that their child will progress to the Higher School Certificate.

In contrast, most teachers expressed reservations about the future


academic success of the children, though not necessarily because of lack of

academic potential.

• The children participating in the case studies receive little extra help fromthe school AEA due to their perceived ability to cope better than their lessable peers.

• The school AEAs are universally seen as a positive addition to theeducation of the children participating in the case studies. The main

reason cited was that the AEA was an Aboriginal member of an otherwise

non-Aboriginal school staff.

• All of the case study children clearly express pride in their Aboriginality.

• Although racism was noted to some degree by most parents, children andteachers, it was not perceived as a source of educational disadvantage.

In most sub-themes there are a variety of performances, attitudes andbehaviours from the eight case studies. Furthermore, there is a cleardissonance of perception between parents and teachers with regard to theability of the child, homework, expectations for the future and attendance.This dissonance suggests that there may be a lack of understanding andknowledge from both teachers and parents with regard to the child's

educational needs.

In Chapter 8 the results presented in Chapters 6 and 7 are discussed in thecontext of the research questions. Finally, the major conclusions of this study

and their implications for future research, for gifted educational policy andpractice, and for Aboriginal education are discussed.


Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies - Research UNE

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Transcript of Chapter 7: Results II - Case Studies - Research UNE